Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Hotels in Puerto Vallarta seek ‘Covid-safe’ designation

With coronavirus restrictions expected to ease in June, hoteliers in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, are seeking to have the popular tourist destination certified as Covid-safe by the Ministry of Health.

The certification may help revive 2020 tourism numbers by increasing visitors’ confidence in sanitary measures that hotels and businesses are undertaking. 

“We want Puerto Vallarta to be a safe Covid destination, and we have launched a Covid-safe campaign,” said Álvaro Garciarce Monraz, president of the Puerto Vallarta Hotel Association. The campaign will include hygiene protocols at points of entry, whether the arrivals be by air, land or sea, and a committee is currently being formed so that tourism providers can better coordinate with government authorities.

Currently, only five hotels in Puerto Vallarta remain partially open, but more are expected to open in stages with the hope that by December tourism numbers will start to recover.

Other destinations across Mexico are also developing coronavirus protocols and seeking Covid-safe certifications, including Cancún and Los Cabos.

The Riviera Maya Hotel Association (AHRM) is seeking certification from U.K.-based company Cristal International Standards which provides POSI-Check, an auditing system for the hospitality industry with strict protocols on hand-washing, swimming pool decontamination, infection control assessment and management of staff and guests in the event of an outbreak. 

AHRM president Conrad Bergwerf stated that his association is adopting these protocols because “on the day hotels reopen their doors, clients will be much more sensitive to issues related to hygiene, cleanliness, disinfection and, in general, to security. For this reason, it will be essential to have security and hygiene programs and protocols to properly serve customers and build trust among our visitors.”

As of May 11, Mexico had 36,327 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Source: El Economista (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Chiapas police

Guatemala files formal protest after Chiapas police incite gun battle across border

2
By Tuesday, Guatemala's Foreign Ministry had sent a letter of protest and the Chiapas governor was scolded by President Claudia Sheinbaum for the "reckless" incursion.
Laureano

Nearly 1,000 neighbors unite to save a 115-year-old tree in Mexico City

0
In the Tlacoquemecatl neighborhood of Mexico City, a real estate company is developing a four-story apartment building where a tree named Laureano has been growing for over a century. 
A historic weekend of drug busts started on Friday, when Mexican customs officials at the border with Guatemala intercepted a tractor-trailer carrying 1.193 tonnes of cocaine concealed within its cargo.

In 3 days, authorities confiscate 44 tonnes of drugs in operations across Mexico

1
The six operations, combined, brought a total economic loss of 1.4 billion pesos (US $73.5 million) to the country's two biggest drug cartels.